Maketu's Karena and Kasey Bird are the winners of Masterchef 2014, securing the title in a nail-biting grand final tonight.

The sisters, aged 25 and 23, defeated Arrowtown best friends Bec Stanley and Jamie Stodler in the two hour episode aired on TV One tonight, making them the first Masterchef duo winners.

Karena and Kasey Bird are the 2014 Masterchef winners.

In the first challenge, the top two duos were given two hours to replicate two intricate dishes by Australian culinary legend Matt Moran: warm lobster with ricotta gnudis and butternut puree, and a roast baby lamb dish featuring four different cuts of lamb with caramelised yoghurt and vegetables.

Jamie and Bec won the challenge, scoring nine out of 10 points for both their "perfectly cooked" crayfish and "the most perfect" lamb.

Kasey and Karena were awarded eight points for their "slightly mushy" crayfish, and eight for their lamb.

Next up, the three Masterchef judges told the duos to pack their bags one last time, as they headed to judge Josh Emett's new restaurant in Queenstown, Madame Woo.

There, they were given five hours to prep and serve Asian-style hors d'oeuvres for 180 VIP guests, invited to the restaurant's grand opening.

Working under Josh in the Madame Woo kitchen, their food was critiqued by fellow judges Simon Gault and Ray McVinnie, who were among the guests out front.

Kasey and Bec were named the stars of the evening for their hard work and professionalism behind the scenes.

Both duos were awarded 18 points out of 20 for the food they produced.

Karena and Kasey Bird with chef Matt Moran.

For the third and final challenge, the duos returned to the Masterchef kitchen.

Instead of the hard dessert they were anticipating, they were given three hours to cook three of the judges' own dishes.

Simon's entree was a complicated spin on a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich: kuzu bread, Iberico ham, tomato jam, spaghetti mozzarella, olive oil caviar and walnut snow, accompanied by gazpacho consomme jelly with a burrata sphere.

Josh's main of pork fillet wrapped in savoy cabbage also came with a braised pig's head terrine, buttercup and maple puree, caramelised onion petals, asparagus, sugar snap peas and a mustard seed pickle.

Ray's dessert was a chocolate trifle cake with layers of chocolate sponge, chocolate custard, prunes and strawberries marinated in sherry, whipped cream and chocolate curls.

Described as 'the challenge of all challenges', the final challenge was the ultimate in multi-tasking, with the dishes involving dozens of processes.

Bec and Jaimie's chocolate sponge was rated excellent; but the cake was cracked at the side, the layers ragged, and in parts was lacking in sherry flavour. It was awarded 14 out of 20 points.

Their pork main was a little overcooked, but was otherwise almost perfect. It earned 18 points.

Their entree was missing basil and the all-important buratta sphere, and scored 15 out of 20.

In all they scored 83 points.

Kasey and Karena's dessert was dubbed "a very handsome gateau", with a perfect sponge and "beautifully marinated prunes". It was awarded 16 points.

Their main also scored 16 points, although it only featured one pork fillet, and was missing beans and mustard seed.

Finally, their entree was labelled "perfect" and scored a 20 on the leader board, taking their total to a winning 86 points.

In disbelief after being announced the winners, Kasey uttered, 'Holey moley” and Karena burst into tears.

'I can't believe it,” sobbed Karena. 'It's just been such a long journey, but it's all been worth it. I'm so proud of Kasey and the fact we got to do it together. It's the best feeling I've ever had in my life.”

Kasey, 23, and Karena, 25, have been the favourites right from their audition, when judge Simon Gault described them as 'two people from provincial New Zealand who cook like rock stars”.

With just the occasional blip such as the Samoan challenges, where they ended up in the middle of the pack, Kasey and Karena have usually figured in the top two or three duos throughout the competition, and the judges regularly predicted that the sisters had what it took to go all the way.

See SunLive tomorrow morning, when we catch up with the Maketu sisters about their win, keeping it a secret, and what's next for the dynamic duo.

Their $100,000 MasterChef NZ prize package includes two Skoda Rapid Spaceback cars, $15,000 worth of designer kitchen appliances from Fisher and Paykel, $5000 in kitchenware courtesy of Stevens, $15,000 worth of groceries from Countdown and an exclusive MasterChef cookbook deal.